Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Lidle Reportedly Killed in NYC Plane Crash

Wow. Holy shit. Cory Lidle was the pilot of the plane that hit a building on the Upper East Side of NYC. This is very sad. (Not more sad than anyone who might have died, but particularly relevant to sports fans and the sports world.)

The worst part is they aren't even sure if his family knows yet. This was mentioned on ESPN, and it was hinted that the police haven't been able to contact his wife. Let's just hope hope hope that they don't find out by seeing a television in the airport or anything like that.

And yes... officially it seems the police arent confirming it's Cory Lidle... because families haven't been notified yet. And yet it got out because of the media presence. Not that I'm trying to villify the media here, but it is awful that it leaked out and that his family is likely to overhear it waiting for their baggage any minute now. Let's just hope the pilot of their plane was notified and they were informed in a more dignified manner...

ESPN is now reporting that his parents found out by watching coverage on TV. Also sounds like his wife and boy were on an airplane flying to CA and so they don't yet know (at the time of print). That makes this situation even sadder in my opinion. It's bad enough to get the news, but to get it in such an impersonal way is just awful.

Questions for journalist: How do you balance the need to report the news and to respect the need to notify next of kin? If he wasn't a professional athlete would this even be so much of a story? Would it have made a difference on when they released his name? Or was this situation different just because they found his passport near the crash (according to ESPN)?

I think there is a very fine line between the need to know vs. respect for the victims family. Obviously no one wants to turn on the tv and see that a loved on has died. However, given the history of NYC and incidents with aircrafts striking buildings, this story would be covered regradless of who the pilot was. The only difference is there would not have been any leak of his identity.

I couldn't imagine that Lidle's wife wasn't notified in mid-flight of what happened. Everyone knew which plane she was on and likely notified her via the pilot, and had people waiting for her when the plane landed.

One thing I'm glad for.. they're saying now that nobody living in the building was killed, only Lidle and the flight instructor who was also on board.

THe family sent a priest to meet her at the airport when the plane landed and to inform her of what happene. For medical reasons, she would not have been intentionally told while the pl;ane was in the air.

Tragic? I would hardly call it that. Shocking? Yes. Lidle being the pilot didn't change the event itself, a plane crashing into an apartment building.

This should have been one of the "whoa, how odd, I remember that guy pitching just a week ago" moments, and it seems like people are making a much bigger deal out of this than what it should be. An athlete died during the offseason in an activity which didn't involve his sport. This isn't like a football player dying during practice, he chose to participate in an activity with a risk.

Well someone going into shock finding out there husband was killed in a plane crash into a buiolding is very likely, and thats not something you want to happen in the air, so that kind of information would never be deliberatly given in flight, though if the plane had inflight news on the tv then she may have known before it landed.

in regards to media reports and the family knowing -- i think it's really on the police/medical examiner people. the media ask the questions, and then police answer them. the city's medical examiner confirmed it was him. what is the media to do? they could have said they weren't releasing names until family was notified, but they didn't. they told the media, who reported.

Blaming A-Rod's pretty childish....but it does make for a good "butterfly effect" analysis as to what would have happened if A-Rod doesn't strike out with the bases loaded in game 2, first inning....Tigers on ropes....

As for Lidle, and other people in life who can fiancially afford to take risks that rest of us can't, there's a certain amount of selfishness that needs to be recognized. Just because you can fly a plane, does not mean that you should fly a plane. As a father, you have a responsibility to your children that should outweigh any joy you get from flying above the clouds.

This happens all too often in our society. If your job, the way you provide for your family, requires you to take these risks, then that's obviously not covered here. But to leave a 6 year old kid without a father because you wanted to hop in your plane and escape is flat out irresponsible. Do you think athletes who spend their lives diedicated to helping their children (and those less fortunate) like Boomer Esiaison or Doug Flutie would do this? NO BLEEPIN' WAY!

Once again, my thoughts go to his family, but it really shouldn't have happened. Hopefully, the next Dad who considers unnecessary risks will think twice and remember Lidle.

I agree this is tragic.. but some of the ESPN coverage has been ludicrous. Sorry I don't remember which assclown it was, but he started asking Kruk and Steve Philips about whether or not Lidle's contract may have had wording in it that forbade him from flying. Who the hell cares??? Is that going to change the fact that he did? WAAAAAY too much coverage. I feel for his family, but seriously this was blown way out of proportion.

I agree with generik. An extra 10 page wrap around section in today's Newsday, nonstop coverage yesterday on TV is a little too much. All deaths are incredibly tragic for family members and friends.

However, if two people died in a car crash in NYC yesterday (probably even happened) would it get this kind of coverage?

Police arrested a man who abducted a 10 year old girl riding her bicycle - that gets very little airplay. Allegedly a NYC cop was molesting and raping a girl since she was 8 years old - gets a few paragraphs. North Korea says sanctioning them for nuclear testing is an act of war - old news. Our media just overplays anything that is sensational and involves a celebrity of any kind.

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DanShanoff.com is a sports-blog spin-off of my long-time ESPN.com column, "The Daily Quickie." Anchored by an early-morning post of must-know topics, the blog is updated frequently throughout the day with new posts and user comments.